Heavily Broken
by BlytheConner1
Summary: This story is set in the current season and will be my take on what's going on with JJ and what happens when Emily returns! I hope you like it :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of these characters, but I wish I did! Please review and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 1

Jennifer Jareau woke up with a start to the ringing of the phone in her hotel room.

"Jareau," she choked out hoarsely over the phone.

"JJ, it's Hotch. We were supposed to meet in the lobby twenty minutes ago."

"I'm sorry," JJ groaned. "I guess I overslept."

"Well, meet us at the station as soon as you can," Hotch said, then hung up.

JJ dragged herself out of bed and headed for the bathroom. This was apparently the nicest hotel in this small Iowa town, but it was rundown and gave her a weird feeling. Showering was a must before anything else. The water pressure was awful, but at least the water was hot. JJ lost herself in the comforting warmth for a minute. A loud thud that sounded like the door to her room slamming shut caused JJ to jump. She took a deep breath before panic could set in, but her nerves were calmed by a voice.

"JJ?" Emily called out, glancing around the small, dark hotel room.

Happiness filled JJ as she heard the voice of her best friend and remembered she was on this case with them after almost two years living in London.

"Bathroom," she called back.

The bathroom knob started to turn, but Emily hesitated.

"It's okay, Em," JJ said softly, turning off the water.

Emily pushed the door open and JJ grabbed a towel and held it across her front.

"Hey there," JJ beamed, stepping forward into Emily's embrace.

Emily took a deep breath before wrapping her arms around JJ the way she had so many times before, knotting her hand in the younger woman's wet blonde hair. JJ laid her head on Emily's shoulder, but was surprised when her friend quickly pulled away.

"What's wrong?" JJ asked, feeling slightly hurt.

Emily stared at her for a moment and then jerked the towel away from her.

"JJ, what have you done?"

Emily was completely taken aback by the state of JJ's body. She had taken notice of some of the changes three days earlier when Garcia and JJ had come to pick her up from the airport. JJ's hair, which had before been thick and shiny blonde, was now thin, dark, and dull. At their first hug at the airport, Emily felt the sharpness of bones jutting out. JJ was paler than she'd ever been and her body was bruised and SALLOW. Her ribs could be counted and Emily felt as if one touch could shatter the girl who stood before her.

"What are you talking about?" JJ said defensively, grabbing her towel back up off the floor and pushing past Emily out of the bathroom.

Emily tried to grab JJ's hand, but JJ had just enough strength to jerk it away. She sat on the edge of the bed closest to the heater and shivered, pulling the blankets up over herself. Emily sat down beside her, concern all over her face.

"You just look..." Emily trailed off.

"I told you I lost weight," JJ bit her lip.

"I never could have imagined this is what you meant."

"I don't get it! If you're not attracted to me anymore, that's fine. I'm married to Will."

"Jayje, you know that isn't it," Emily sighed. "And trust me, I know about your marriage. You remind me every week when we talk."

JJ's eyes filled with tears.

"Maybe I just wanted you to fight for me," she whispered.

"You know I couldn't give you what Will did," Emily reasoned. "I could never have taken care of you and Henry the way he has."

"How could you say that?"

"Now isn't the time to rehash the past, JJ. I just need you to be okay," Emily kissed JJ's forehead with these words.

Emily stood up and opened the suitcase sitting on the couch across the room. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a blue button-down top and underwear and handed them to JJ. JJ shot her a look, but stood up and got dressed. Emily waited until her friend was in the bathroom drying her hair to let out the breath she'd been holding. She knew that coming back here had been a mistake, but she had to make sure Jennifer was okay. She had to do whatever it took to help the woman she loved before she went back to London. Emily shook those thoughts from her head when JJ came out of the bathroom. With the help of makeup and clothes, she looked almost like the old JJ, and this made Emily smile.

"Ready to go?" Emily asked, standing up.

"I guess," JJ answered. "Are we done talking about us?"

"There is no us anymore," Emily said as she held open the hotel room door and let JJ pass.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- I hope you guys are enjoying this story. I'm not sure where the CM writers are taking JJ's storyline or what Emily's role will be in the 200th episode, but I'm having fun writing what I think:) please review and let me know what you think!**

Emily drove them to the local police station in silence. The rental car was barely in park before JJ jumped out and hurried inside, away from Emily and all self-conscious thoughts. Emily sighed and followed slowly. The station was small with a few desks and offices and one conference room with a window, which is where a few members of her former BAU team sat. She opened the door and looked at Hotch, who nodded.

"Hey, Princess," Derek grinned, squeezing Emily's shoulder as she sat down. "I could definitely get used to having you back around."

JJ stared at the table like it was about to jump out and grab her.

"Rossi and Blake went to interview the victims' families and Reid is going over some case files with the chief of police," Hotch explained. "JJ, are you alright to work?"

"Of course, Hotch," JJ said, not looking up from the table.

Hotch nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"Then you stay here and call Garcia, see if she has anything new and start working on connections between the victims. I'll start working on the profile, and Morgan, take Prentiss to look at what we've got so far. We could use some fresh eyes."

Emily practically jumped up, glad to be getting away from this awkward situation with JJ for a little bit. She was also looking forward to some one on one time with her former partner. She hoped she would be able to be of any help to the case with her main worries focused solely on her best friend. She knew Derek would have some different insight than she did when it came to JJ, as he was around her all the time. She followed Derek to the big board against the wall of the part of the station and she took comfort in the familiarity of this routine. He started pointing out the pictures of victims and suspects and explaining the case, but Emily couldn't concentrate.

"What's going on with JJ?" she asked bluntly.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed the physical changes," Derek grinned. "She looks good."

"She's wasting away, Derek," Emily shook her head. "She doesn't look good at all. Either way, I meant what's going on in her mind?"

"You want me to profile JJ?"

Emily nodded.

"You know we don't do that to each other, Emily."

"She needs help, Derek," Emily pleaded, "but I don't know how to help her when she won't admit to me what's going on."

Derek hesitated for a moment, but then told Emily what he knew.

"There's something going on between her and Cruz, the new Section Chief. Garcia thinks it's an affair, but I just don't think after what she's gone through with Will that she would do that to him. They are very secretive about how they know each other, even though it's pretty obvious to all of us that they do. She started losing weight not long after you left. I'd attribute that to stress. You were the person she leaned on and she doesn't have that anymore. That would take a toll on anyone."

"You're saying it's my fault?" Emily's voice wavered slightly.

"Em, I know we've never talked about what I know about you two, but I can't pretend I don't know," Derek spoke almost in a whisper. "And you can't pretend that your decision hasn't affected you both."

"I never meant to..." Emily trailed off.

"It's not your fault, Emily."

Derek squeezed her hand, just as JJ exited the conference room. Walking toward them, she cleared her throat.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No, JJ, you're good," Emily said quickly, pulling back from Derek and looking up at her best friend.

"Did Garcia have anything?" Derek asked JJ.

"Nothing," JJ shook her head. "The victims seem to have nothing in common. This case is so random. I mean, is this actually serial?"

"Well, let's go over it with Prentiss and hopefully she'll have new insight," Derek gestured at Emily.

"I thought that's what you were already doing."

"Nah, we were just talking about you, Jayje," Derek grinned.

JJ felt uneasy with those words, but Derek winked at her and touched her arm flirtatiously. She figured chances were he'd just been teasing Emily about their close friendship, as he'd been doing for years. JJ always assumed he thought there was something more between them, but Emily assured her he had no idea. JJ smiled back at Derek and then pointed to the board, prompting him to get on with the briefing.

"Alright, there are three victims so far. Three murders in a year is unheard of around here, much less three in a month, which is why we were called out. The victimology and MO's seem different for each murder."

Derek pointed to the first picture, which was of a young blonde woman. Her crime scene photos were horrifying and gruesome, stab wounds over her breasts and blood soaking the crotch of her jeans.

"The first victim was Kara Johnson, twenty-four. She was an elementary school teacher, a newlywed, and mother of one. She was found three weeks ago in a park by some other young mothers whose children were in a play group with Kara's son. She was stabbed three times, as you can see in the photo. Cause of death, though, was asphyxiation, due to lethal amounts of her prescribed antidepressant and a BAC almost three times the legal limit."

"That doesn't make sense," Emily wondered aloud. "She died from what would appear to most as a suicide, yet the unsub stabbed her anyway? This is definitely overkill and obviously sexually motivated."

"Which brings us to the confusion of our next victim, 54-year-old Jerry Rollins. His daughter, Jenna, found him sitting on the couch, single gunshot wound to the head, as if he'd just been calmly watching television. There was no sign of a struggle or a break in. Two hours before his body was discovered, neighbors called in the sound of a gunshot, but they saw nothing unusual. The police checked out the area, but nothing seemed out of place, so they dismissed the sound as something else until Jenna called."

"It sounds like a different unsub," Emily reasoned.

"Third victim," Derek's voice got a little more sad as he pointed to the third photo on the board. "Three-year-old Nathan Baker was found in the same park as the first victim. His parents put him to bed at ten as usual, watched TV until around midnight, and then went to bed themselves. They say every door and window was locked, but the unsub somehow got in and took Nathan without breaking in or waking up his parents. Nathan's skull was bashed with a large rock found next to his body and was also strangled. It's undetermined at this time which was his actual cause of death."

Emily felt a weight settle on her chest, as she always did when children were victims. She glanced at JJ to see tears in her best friend's eyes. She reached out her arms and let JJ come into her embrace.

"He looks like Henry," the younger agent whispered through her tears.

Emily had to agree that the smiling blonde boy in the picture did look an awful lot like JJ's own young son, but she knew she had to pull her friend out of this mindset. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialed the number she had memorized a few years ago. While the phone rang, she thought back to those times she had picked up disposable cell phones or traveled to a different city just to use a random pay phone so that she could dial this very number and feel less alone. JJ was the only thing that had gotten her through her 'death'. Will answered the phone on the fourth ring.

"Emily?" he answered, confused.

"Yeah, it's me," she confirmed. "Listen, Will, is Henry around? JJ needs to hear his voice."

JJ smiled through her tears. This was something Emily had done for her many times before and Will had an understanding that this was something she needed from time to time when on a case involving young children. Emily handed her the phone and she gave a grateful smile, then sat down in a chair nearby.

"Hi baby!"

Emily felt her heart melt at the loving way Jennifer spoke to her son. She couldn't hear the little boy on the other end of the line, but she was sure he was excited to hear his mommy's voice. They spoke for a few minutes.

"I love you, too, Henry."

JJ handed Emily back the phone, her whole demeanor lightened.

"Thanks, Em."

"I'm going to see how Hotch is doing with the profile," Derek said, glancing between his former partner and the woman she'd always loved. "It looks like you two need a moment alone."


End file.
